Are Sanctions Against Myanmar Good or Bad?

Senator Jim Webb secures release of John Yettaw from Burma - Times Online: "“The sanctions of the past several years have increased Myanmar’s isolation from Western governments and culture. These are major impediments in allowing the Burmese people the kind of access to the outside world that is essential to their economic and political growth,” the senator said.
“And yet at the same time these sanctions have allowed China to dramatically increase its economic and political influence in Myanmar, creating an imbalance that affects the long-term national goals of many other countries. This is not healthy for the region.”"

Senator Jim Webb secures the release of the lake-swimmer that caused Ms Suu Kyi a lot of trouble. He also suggests that the sanctions against Myanmar could be counter productive for the above reasons. I he right or is he wrong?

It is a very important issue how to relate to the "bad guys" in the world. We have the same problem with Iran for example. I have earlier suggested, and gotten implicit critique for it, that we should end the sanctions against Tehran. Keeping up business contacts when the political relations fail is a way of maintaining a presence and thereby influence. It also creates a more positive view of the West.

Should we be ideological or realistic? Perhaps some form of realistic ideology would work best. It is important to keep preaching our values and demonstrate how our societies work at the same time as we don't impose ourselves too much on these countries. It is easy to treat a country as you would a criminal but this is not correct. It is not possible to compare countries and individuals in this fashion. You have to relate to the average citizen not to the regime, if possible.